Jim and Tess
by AyBenelli
Summary: *Up for Adoption* The story of Treasure Planet, starting from when Jim was 8 years old until after he graduates from The Space Academy. But this time, there is one other person in his life that makes all the difference. JimXOC
1. The First Solar Surfer

"So you just plug this in here, and…" with a loud buzz the solar surfer's engine came to life. Only Jim's quick reflexes stopped it from taking off out of control, and smashing into the living-room wall. Tess let out a low whistle and looked up at her friend with wide gray eyes. "How do you even know all this stuff? I mean, that laser you built last year was pretty good…But this…" she tilted her head to the side, trying to take in the complexity of the vehicle. But her vision was obscured by the short cloud of curly dark brown hair that fell into her eyes. Tess pushed it back behind her ears absently.

Jim shrugged, "I read the books that my Dad brings home from his trips sometimes." His eyes suddenly lit up with excitement. "He promised that next time, he's going to get me a _real working model space ship_. One that _flies_ and everything, so that I can see how they work."

Tess didn't comment, even at the age of 7 1/2 she knew that the chances of Jim's father actually remembering a promise were slim to none.

"Can you even ride this thing?" she asked after a moment, with a laugh that she hoped atleast _sounded_ more real and genuine than it felt.

He flushed slightly, "Well…I know the _theory_. I was gonna try it out today… Wanna come with me?"

Grinning, Tess nodded and the two quickly stood up, each taking a hold of the hovering solar surfer and preparing to take it through the kitchen and out the back door.

"James Pleiades Hawkins!"

"Uh. Oh." Jim and Tess both turned towards the front door, each smiling and trying their best to look innocent, despite the fact that they were covered in engine grease and were currently holding a solar surfer in their hands.

Sarah Hawkins had put her grocery bags to one side and stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at the two children. "Where on earth did you get _that_?" she demanded, looking at her son.

"Uhh…" Jim looked up at the ceiling, apparently unable to think of something to say. It was Tess who eventually replied, "Jim built it Mrs. Hawkins."

Sarah's glare faltered, "He…What?" She looked at her son with a mixed expression of pride and disbelief. "You _built_ this Jim? By yourself? Out of what?"

Flushing, Jim shifted his eyes to the side and shot Tess a glare. "Well. I mean. I know that I'm not supposed to go to the scrap yard alone. But I thought that…Well Mr. Darson said that I could use some of the old engine parts for free. So I thought it would be okay…" he trailed off with a grimace.

Sarah just continued looking at her son. She knew that he was smart…But…_He's only 8!_ "Wait…You built a solar surfer, by yourself…Out of _broken parts_?"

Seeing that he was probably going to get out of this _without_ punishment, Jim began to smile at his mother.

Tess chose that moment to say something "Sorry about the carpet Mrs. Hawkins." she piped up suddenly.

There was a pause, Sarah turned to look at the oil covered living-room carpet below the children's feet. Jim barely had time to glare at Tess, before Sarah reacted.

"James!"

With a scream of terror, the children fled the room, solar surfer in hand.

It was almost fifteen minutes before they had managed to carry the large vehicle all the way out to the canyons, even with the motivation of imminent death (at the hands of Sarah) to speed them up. By the time they got there, both had added a fair amount of sweat to the grime and engine oil covered clothes, skin and hair. They dropped the solar surfer and collapsed to the ground.

"You _had_ to mention the carpet." Jim scolded once he had finally gotten his breath back.

"Well, it was _your_ idea to build it in the living room in the first place."

Jim laughed, "Ok. Yeah. _That_ was a bad idea. Anyway." He stood up and stood, grinning at Tess. "Shall we ride it?"

She surveyed the solar surfer apprehensively. "I dunno…Neither of us know how…And my Ma says that these things are dangerous."

"Well. _I'll_ try first…And" Jim added "check that it's safe for _girls_ like you to ride."

Tess flushed and opened her mouth to retort, but Jim moved too fast. With only a slight stumble and a hitch, he was on the solar surfer and had the engine roaring. Less than a moment later, he had taken off down the canyon.

Jim vanished from sight before reappearing again behind a large boulder, Tess's face turned pale as she watched him speed towards the edge of the cliff. _Turn_ she bit her lip, _Jim, TURN!_ She screamed as Jim plunged over the edge. Running forewords, Tess only made it a few metres before, with a loud _WOOSH_ Jim shot back up the other side of the canyon and started to turn around back towards her.

Another second later, he had the solar surfer parked next to Tess. And half jumped and half fell of the vehicle, landing back on solid ground.

Tess punched him. "Don't. _Ever_. Do that again."

But Jim was grinning, his eyes sparkled. "Are you _kidding_!" he demanded, "that was the best thing _ever_!"


	2. One Week Later

**1 week later**

Tess went to the canyon with Jim after school for umpteenth time in a row. A combination of hating to go home and loving to be with Jim meant that she inevitably spent more of her time outside or at his house than she did in her own.

Jim didn't fully understand the reason why Tess was like this, but he accepted it as a fact. And so this day found both Jim and Tess, riding double on their new Solar Surfer, making their way throughout the canyon's twists and turns. Being careful to stay clear of the restricted building site, they kept to flying in the more secure, if rather more dull, disused areas. Finally, stomaches rumbling, they started to head back home to Jim's house for lunch.

"Have you two finished your homework for school?" Sarah asked as the two kids entered the kitchen.

"Yes Mrs. Hawkins."

"Mum…" Jim put on his best puppy dog face "Can we have fried pandries for lunch?"

Putting down the dough that she was kneading, Sarah turned to her son with a mock-stern expression. "We've had fried pandries for lunch every day this _week_." Sarah scolded, her expression twitching into a smile despite her best efforts.

"But…You see Mum…" Jim put a hand around Tess's shoulders, "They are Tess's very _favourite _foods. And she is a _guest_, soo…" he trailed off with another wide grin.

Tess snorted and elbowed him "If I'm a _guest_, then why did you make me help you take out the garbage. Wash the dishes…Feed the animals… Build that-" she cut herself off abruptly and coughed, hoping that Mrs. Hawkins hadn't noticed her reference to Jim's latest _secret_ invention. Jim stomped on her foot, continuing to grin at his mother, who had an eyebrow raised and was looking at them suspiciously.

"So, can we Mum…Please?"

Sarah laughed and waved the two kids out of the kitchen. "How about we make a deal. You clean up your room, and I'll make fried pandries _again_ today."

Tess and Jim squealed with excitement and bounded out of the room and up the stairs towards Jim's bedroom.

Laughing to herself, Sarah placed the dough to one side to rise and turned back to the stove. Where 8 large pink pandries were already sizzling away. … …

It took about three minutes before an explosion and two sets of screams had Sarah hurriedly turn off the stove and run upstairs to her son's bedroom.

She flung open the door and stared inside, one hand waving away the black smoke that seeped out of the room, the other covering her mouth to cough. "Jim" *cough* "Tess…Are you two, Okay?"

"We're, Okay!" both voices called out at once. It took Sarah a moment to figure out that they were emitting from underneath the bed.

"What on earth happened in here?" as the smoke began to clear, Sarah got a better look at the room. Just about everything inside was either burnt or singed. A single, plate sized red disk, lay in the middle of the floor.

"I _told_ him not to do it." Tess scolded. There was a shuffling sound, and a cry of "Oww!" as Jim elbowed her.

"It was _your_ fault anyway!" Jim rebuked.

"Was not!"  
"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"Was to-"

"Okay, okay" Sarah cut the fight off. She sighed and bent to peer under the bed at the two ash covered children. They both turned their faces towards her at once, each fixing their best innocent smile at her. Sarah rolled her eyes. "Just come out and tell me what happened."

"Well…" Jim was cut off with an "Ooff" and pulled down sideways as Tess used him as a frame to help herself stand up. "

"Jim was…" Tess began.

Jim elbowed her again, and she retaliated by stamping on his foot. Both of them kept the phony smiles plastered to their faces.

"It was just a new invention! I only wanted to see if it worked or not!" Both children said defensively at the same time.

With a groan, Sarah started walking out of the room. "Never mind. I don't want to know."


	3. Eight Months Later

**8 months later**

"Jim!" the front door burst open and Tess rain inside, tears streaming down her face. She didn't bother to respond to Sarah Hawkin's rather alarmed exclamation at the sight of her in such a state. Tess ran straight up the stairs to where she knew Jim would be in his room. She pounded on the door. "Jim, it's me."

There was a moment before Jim opened the bedroom door, the bed behind him was littered in books and engineering magazines. "Tess?...What?"

She pushed past him and into the room. "I'm leaving!" she sobbed, flinging herself face down onto Jim's bed and sobbing. Her tears streamed down, getting his pillow wet.

"What do you mean?" Jim closed the door and came back to stare at his best friend in bewilderment. "Leaving, _where_?"

"Mama and Papa are moving to Endrane!" Tess sobbed. "And they're gonna send me to girls school there to become a _lady_. And then when I'm old enough I'll have to get married…And…" Tess left off with another wail.

The blood drained from Jim's face. "What! You can't _leave_! Endrane…Endrane is…" he faltered, flailing his arms. "About a million, billion light years away! I'll never see you again!"

Bringing her head up from the pillow, Tess glared at him with puffy, tear stained red eyes. "I _know_! But Papa says…Papa says we're leaving next _week_." She let out another sob and re-planted her face firmly into Jim's pillow.

Jim continued to stand there, bewildered, as he watched not only his best friend, but a _girl_ crying on his bed. Despite his pain and dismay, Jim felt a little awkward … He walked towards the bed and sat down next to her.

"It's ok." He said.

Tess just continued to sob. "I mean…I'll come and get you!" he said, his voice suddenly lighting up. "I'll get Dad to take me with him on one of his journeys! Endrane is a major port city! Dad says that they almost always end up docking their ship there at some point or another."

Her face once again emerging from the damp pillow, Tess looked at Jim with wide eyes. "You think that he'll let you?" she asked, hope resonating through her voice.

Jim nodded "Sure! Once I prove that I can be useful on a ship! It might take a year or two. But I'll _definitely_ come." He stuck out his hand. "I promise. And then I'll break you out of that stupid school and we'll sail space together!"

Tess's face lit up with a smile, and, ignoring his outstretched hand, she flung herself at Jim and clung to him in a tight hug. "Promise that you'll come. And we'll go on adventures together?"

"I promise."


	4. Six Years Later

**6 years later**

_This is it. I'm finally leaving._ Slinging the backpack over one shoulder, I couldn't help but glancing back at my dorm room. It was exactly what you would expect for a girls finishing school. Petite, small, neat, tidy, and pink. My room-mate slept on soundly, thank goodness the girl was one of the heaviest sleepers I had ever encountered. It certainly had helped me sneak out every weekend so that, in a man's disguise and a well secured hat to hide my (previously) long hair, I could work as a bar tender/waiter.

A foul taste entered my mouth at the thought of the under-hand, shady bar and it's rather tasteless personal-space-invading patrons. I resisted the urge to spit. But it was the only establishment nearby that was open at night, so it was the only available choice of employment for a girl whose school specifically forbid it's students to work, even over the summer holidays.

_Well. It was worth it._ There is no way in hell that I was just gonna sit back and learn to sew, cook and sing - until my parent's could marry me off to the highest bidder. But now, I had finally saved up enough money to _leave_…To support myself until….Until... _Until I can get proper work on a ship…Even if I have to do it alone_… A mild twinge of pain made me frown, but I shook it off.

The friendships, the promises, of an eight year old no longer had place in the life of a fifteen year old I reminded myself.

I double checked my disguise as best as I could in the dark. A tight breast band, men's trousers, a baggy long-sleeved sailors shirt and a rundown jacket. In addition to my recently cropped off hair, I knew from previous experience that I looked exactly like a boy, if a rather skinny, feminine one. At least it would be a relief to no longer have to worry about my hat slipping off and giving me away.

I smiled in elation. _Leaving!_ With a final salute to the dark room and sleeping figure. I slipped out of the window and away.

The morning was hot, despite it still being early enough that the streets of Endrane mostly empty.

First things first, I had to get off of Endrane. As long as I was here, my parents would be able to track me down. I caught sight of a rather depressing little ship In run down port. It was the only one that appeared to be readying itself for departure. Taking a deep breath, I strode over. It was probably going to take a few tries before I could convince a captain to take me on as a cabin boy, so I might as well get started early.

Creatures of all shapes and sizes were busily running around the place when I headed over. A burly, large, eye-patch wearing cyborg appeared to be the man in charge. He was barking directions left right and centre. From the way the crew responded to his orders, I could tell that they were completely terrified of the man.

Gulping slightly and biting my lip, I steeled myself and strode towards him. _Look confident. _He noticed me almost the instant I drew near. With a frown, he turned towards me.

"What?" he growled.

"Sir!" I stood straight and lowered my voice just slightly into a tone that could pass off for that of a young man's. "I would like to join your crew for a time, Sir!"

To my surprise, the flicker of a smile passed over the cyborg's face. But it was gone in an instant. "And what makes you…" he said in a low voice. "Thing that I could use the help of a wee lad like you?"

I set my jaw. "Sir! I learn fast. I work hard. I don't even need paying."

"Ahh…I see. So you're running away are ya?" his voice softened ever so slightly, though he kept it low enough that only I could tell.

"Just looking for passage out of Endrane, Sir…"I faltered "Preferably without traceable papers generated by _paying_ for passage as a ship's guest."

" I hope you know something about the _working _ of ships at least, lad." He growled.

I nodded, "Yes, Sir. Though I have no practical experience, I am well versed in the theory of all aspects required with the mechanical running of a space vessel." Thank goodness I had spent all those hours studying at night, even if it made me exhausted for my _proper_ classes during the day.

"Well. Best get to work with ya, lad!" he boomed. "And by the way. Me name's Silver."

"I'm James… Er… James Lucas." I blinked slightly, _what made me use the name, James?_ Luckily, Silver didn't seem to notice my moment of surprise, or my difficulty in producing a last name. He was already booming out a list of things for me to do. I got to work.

"Lucas! Is everything secured in the kitchens!"

"Yes, Sir!" I ran my eye once over, checking that nothing would fall and break during our imminent landing.

Heavy footsteps sounded, Silver coming down the stairs into the galley. "Good, lad." He gave me a smile, something that I had become more familiar with than I ever would have supposed 3 short weeks ago. "Now, don't slack off. Ya hear? Don't forget that I have no qualms about leaving ya at the next port."

I rolled my eyes, "With _Scroop_ breathing down my neck every two seconds about how useless I am?" I imitated the deep growly voice of the spider looking alien. "You shouldn't even be here. Hell…I should kill you now…." I scoffed "How could I forget."

Silver let out a chuckle and slapped me hard enough on the back that I stumbled forwards. "There's a lad." With a couple of parting orders to be seen to, he headed back up on deck to oversee the final details of our landing. I waited until Silver was out of sight before I let myself drop the charade.

To tell the truth, Scroop scared me. And I had good cause to think that, if I wasn't careful, he would actually end up killing me one day. I lifted my shirt for a moment and poked tenderly at the large bruises, all greens and purples, that dotted just about every part of my body that was hidden by clothing. _Hidden… So that Silver wont kick HIM off of the ship._

As the ship finally finished docking and everyone began to disembark, I thought momentarily about leaving. Trying to find work on a new ship. But there was something about Silver. He was a good Captain, and a good man, though he tried to hide it. And, while one bad crew member was rather unpleasant. Who knew, on another ship, I might end up with a bad Captain. Which would be a hundred times worse.

I shouldered my bag and made my way out and off of the ship with the rest of the crew. _I wonder what our next job is…_?


	5. A new adventure

"What do you mean you're gonna be the cook?" I gaped at Silver. Had he gone insane?

"You heard me, Lucas." Silver growled. "And I don't want another word outta ya about it. _Especially_ in front of our new _captain_."

"But."

"No buts. You'll still be cooking some. Just you'll be doing it in here with me." He smiled, "You outta be happy bout it. Getting an extra set of hands. And I'm not even half bad at the job myself."

I opened my mouth to protest but Silver glared at me and I shut my trap. Whatever it was that was going on, I wasn't going to get any more information out of him.

"Yes, Sir." I said, turning away from him to look at the rather magnificent ship in front of us. "So this is it?" I asked, "It's nice... Shiny."

Silver let out a laugh and clapped a hand onto my shoulder. "This is it. Let's get aboard before the crew thinks I've gone an left em to their own devices."

I nodded and followed Silver up onto the deck. He quickly headed below to inspect the new galley and kitchen. Scoop, seeing an opportunity, almost immediately descended upon me once Silver was out of sight.

"I see you're still with us." The spider sneered, his bad breath wafted towards me. I suppressed a gag reflex and tried to ignore him. _If I don't talk, then maybe he'll leave me alone_… It worked on occasion, but I had a bad feeling that this time I wasn't going to get off so lucky. _Why does he even hate me so much…?_ Though, on second thought. He probably just generally disliked me, something told me that if he actually hated me, I wouldn't be standing here today.

Only the intensified smell informed me that Scoop had gotten even closer. The alien was capable of moving so quickly and silently…I shivered at the thought of what could happen if he took the inclination to finish me off at night._ I wouldn't even be able to see him coming…_

"Go away Scoop." I said, forcing my voice to come out even. I was using every ounce of strength I had just to hide how scared of him I was. Despite my best efforts, I took a step away from him, clutching my hands into fists so that he wouldn't see them shaking.

Scoop picked me up and slammed me against the ship's railing. "I should kill you right now, before you _get in the way_."

"What…What are you talking about?" I gasped, he wasn't fully choking me, but it was hard to breath. Scoop rammed a fist into my side, colliding with a previous bruise. I gasped, my eyes watering as I stared down at his hideous face. I. Wasn't. Going. To. Cry. Out.

"What is going on here!"

Glancing up, I could see a large rock-man striding towards us. Scoop narrowed his eyes at him. "It's none of your business." He hissed at the well-dressed alien.

"There will be NO FIGHTING on the Captain's SHIP!" The rock man bellowed. _Ah_. This must be Arrow. Silver had told us about our new Captain Amelia and her first Officer. Apparently Scoop came to the same conclusion, because, after a moment. He reluctantly released his grip, letting me fall hard to the wooden deck.

"Yes. _Sir._" Scoop hissed, before walking away from the both of us. Arrow, similarly, seemed to feel that his duty was done, and moved on. I rubbed my new set of bruises and slowly stood up. We would be launching ship later this afternoon, and there was a lot of work to be done. With a sigh, I headed to work.


	6. Uh, Oh

We had been working well into the afternoon before Silver decided to give me a break. "We'll be setting off soon enough. Lad, you might as well enjoy the last relaxin' moment's you're gonna have in a while." He said cheerfully, waving me out of the kitchen.

More than happy to stop peeling potatoes for tonight's dinner, I dropped everything and bounded onto deck. This would only be my second time watching a ship take off, and the thought of it thrilled me to my toes. I climbed on a nearby rigging and stood, watching the finishing preparations take place below me.

I wasn't there long before two figures caught my eye. A dog like alien in a…Ridiculous looking round metal suit. And a young boy, around my age. _He looks…Familiar…_ Though if I had ever seen a kid with that unique hairstyle, I was fairly sure that I would have remembered him… _Not that it looks bad on him…_ Shaking my head, I leaned forewords, trying to get a better vantage point so that I could more easily hear the conversation they had just started with Arrow.

Moments later, a well dressed feline-alien did an aerial summersault and landed in front of the three people. _Ah, this must be Captain Amelia_. She was instantly recognisable. Something about –Captain- just oozed from her. I laughed when I saw her fix up the dog man's suit. He obviously wasn't used to space travel. Neither was the boy, I guess. As he was looking around at everything with as much amazement and wonder as myself.

The dog man in the funny suit (Dr. Dobbler? Had the Captain said that?) began to reply to Amelia and her First Officer's rather amusing set of verbal exchanges.

"Excuse me, I hate to interrupt this…Lovely banter.. But may I introduce to you Jim Hawkins…Jim, you see, is the boy who found the treasure-"

_What!_ A buzzing noise filled my ears…What had he said!…

Captain Amelia abruptly cut Dr. Dobbler off, and a moment later was leading the two men into her office. I could only stare at them as they walked away. My hands gripped the rope in front of me so tightly that my knuckles gleamed white, they began to shake. And suddenly my mouth went dry. _Jim…Hawkins…_? It wouldn't be until half an hour that the word "treasure", so carelessly emitted from Dr. Dobbler's mouth, would even register as interesting.

I turned away and stared out at the sky.


	7. Confusion

"…Jim Hawkins…Here?" I muttered under my breath. I still hadn't left my spot on the riggings. It was out of the way of the rest of the crew, and as I had no desire to be disturbed right now, it suited me just fine. _No wonder he had looked so familiar…_

_I wonder if he will recognise me…?_ I shook my head. Most likely the boy had completely forgotten about me. And I couldn't blame him. _We were only eight years old._ I told myself sternly, trying to ignore the familiar aching pain that I had whenever I thought of him. If he remembered me at all, it would be as a childhood playmate who moved away when they were both still small. _Just the promises of a child. You can't him to have held up to them._ I took a deep breath. _I can act normal around him. I won't let on who I am._

But, despite what I told myself, it was probably going to be best if I mostly avoided him for the duration of our voyage. Since I would be working with Silver, and he was one of the trips 'financers' I didn't suppose that this would be difficult. _Most likely him and Dr. Dobbler will act like guests and only even enter the galley for meals, if they don't insist on having them in their private quarters_. I reasoned.

A whistle sounded and Arrow's cry of "prepare to cast off!" brought me back from my musings. We were about to launch! Even the painful and confusing turn that this day had taken couldn't contain my excitement. Making sure I was well prepared and wouldn't inadvertently be cast off into space, I began to look around.

"All hands to stations!" came Arrow's next call. I remained where I was, there was nothing for me to do during this launch. But around me the rest of the crew were scrambling to their positions.

"Loose all solar sails!" with a loud creak, the sails dropped and slowly the ship began to rise.

"Brace up!"

As we began to rise faster, I turned to look at the main mast. It lit up with a series of lights that our previous run down ship hadn't contained. And then, gravity disappeared, I held tight to the ropes. A moment later, artificial gravity was engaged and I sank back down with both relief and a slight sense of disappointment. Then, the final big jolt as we took off at full speed. It almost sent me flying off the ropes, but I clung on. Something told me that I was going to get rope burn from this… But at the moment I didn't care as exhilaration raced through me. We were off!

I could finally see the stars as they should be. Space was breathtakingly beautiful and I had the feeling that I would never quite get used to it.

It was at that moment that I finally noticed I wasn't the only person on this rigging. To my horror, Jim Hawkins was directly in front of me. _How had I missed him_. I cursed myself silently. I could be such an idiot sometimes.

"Wow…" Jim breathed in front of me, apparently as unaware of me as I had been of him. I started to move off the riggings, hoping that I could slip away before he really noticed me. But he had already turned his head slightly and caught sight of me.

"Oh. Hi." I said hurriedly. The words made me grimace, I had just used my girls voice…I quickly lowered it, "I mean. Beautiful isn't it." _Look away, Jim. Look away from me._ Luckily it worked, he turned again to the stars.

"Yeah. It's incredible." he breathed.

I had just turned to leave, when Silver decided to appear.

"Jimbo!" he shouted. Jim turned to him in surprise as Silver strode over.

"I've got two new friends I'd like you to meet." Silver continued with a smirk.

Jim looked at him expectantly, but when Silver produced Mr. Mop and Mrs. Bucket, flinging them at Jim (who managed to catch them, to my surprise), his face turned to one of disgust.

Silver started to chuckle, and I couldn't help it. My loose nerves got the better of me and I began to laugh, a little too loudly.

Silver turned to me next, with a stern look. "You can help him too, Lad!" he said. I groaned and felt the blood drain from my face, just what I needed..._ More time with Jim…_ But if I refused, Silver would know that something was up. Without another protest, I took the offered mop. No happier about this situation than Jim appeared to be.

It didn't take Jim to begin complaining once we had started mopping.

"Yeah, I got your Mr. Mop" he grumbled. I turned away to hide a smile, but didn't say anything.

Jim didn't have a chance to start talking to me, either, because our largest crew member, Groot knocked him to the side.

"Watch it twurp." He grumbled.

I shot Groot a glare, which he returned, before continuing on his way. Looking back at Jim, I saw that he had been distracted by something else. I glanced in the same direction, it was a cluster of the crew…_Whispering?_ When they caught the two of us staring, they quickly cut off the conversation.

"What are you looking at, weirdo?" Frandy asked Jim, crossing his large arms.

"Leave him alone." I mumbled, but Frandy ignored me. His head climbed off of his body, and in a higher pitch, the lower half of him carried on the insult. But I was no longer interested in Frandy, much worse was climbing down the riggings directly above Jim. Quickly stepping forwards, I pulled him out of the way as Scroop reached us.

"Cabin boys should learn to mind their own business." The spider snarled at the two of us. Before I could stop him, Jim was mouthing off his reply.

"Why? You got something to hide, bright eyes?"

Blood began draining out of my face. Turning my skin white, making my shoes feel like led. My bottom lip began to tremble, but I bit it to keep it steady.

Scroop moved forwards with a snarl. Jumping forwards, I pushed Jim out of the way and stood between them, but Scroop just hit me aside, sending me to the floor. He grabbed Jim up in one of his claws, "Maybe your ears don't work so well…"

"Yeah." Jim said with a grunt as he was hoisted into the air. "To bad that my nose works just fine."

_Jim! Don't!_

"Why you impudent little…"

I launched myself off of the ground just as Scroop slammed Jim back into a post, cutting off his air supply. Around us, the crew gathered, getting excited about the fight. Panicked, I jumped at Scroop, grabbing onto his arm and causing him to drop Jim to the floor. Scroop turned on me, "I should kill you too." He hissed, landing a blow that caused me to fly back into the same pole and drop to the ground, just as Scroop picked Jim up for the second time.

Scroop grabbed Jim up again, "Any last words, Cabin boy?" he asked, extending a razor sharp claw towards Jim's neck.

I tried to stagger to my feet, but Silver got there first. Casually, he reached out and grabbed Scroops wrist, forcing the claw downwards.

"Mr. Scroop." He took a bite of his fruit. "You ever see what happens to a fresh perp…When you squeeze…Real hard." He twisted Scroops arm away into a painful lock. Finally forcing Scroop to drop Jim again.

But It was only when Arrow came down the stairs towards us that I finally started to breathe again, though I hadn't realised that I'd been holding my breath.

Jim was safe…For now…

Arrow had everyone dispersed in less than a minute, giving me the chance to subtly check Jim for injuries. He seemed to be none the worse for wear. Actually, I had actually probably come out of the fight worse than he had. I winced, yet another new set of bruises. _I'm probably more bruise than normal flesh at this point…_ At least…Jim was ok… I shook my head. Why did I care so much about him?

"Gahh!" I didn't realise that I had let out the frustrated sound until Jim turned to me.

"What?" he asked.

"Uh…"

But for once, Silver had good timing. He loomed in on Jim and myself.

"I gave you two a job!"

Indignation flared up on both our parts, and together we started to protest, but Silver cut us off.

"Now, I want this deck swabbed spotless, and heaven help ya if I come back and it's not done… Morph." His pink pet floated over "keep an eye on these pups. Let me know if there be any more distractions." And with that Silver stomped away, leaving us staring at a bucket of dirty water and an even dirtier deck.

Jim had a sour look on his face as we got back to work, but it only took a few minutes to wear off. I smiled to myself, he really couldn't stay angry for too long…Some things apparently didn't change much as you got older.

"So…Thanks."

"What?" I was snapped out of my thoughts.

"For helping me, I mean."

Something inside me snapped. "Did you have to go and pick a fight with _Scroop_! Don't you even realise how…How…?"

"Ugly he is?"

My mouth opened, but no sound came out…Ugly…? It was almost as though my brain malfunctioned…It was like…Jim wasn't even scared of him…

Jim continued. "Not to mention he reeks…"

Laughter erupted, before I could help it. Jim joined in, and for a few moments, I didn't even mind that I was aching all over, covered in sweat, and swabbing a filthy deck.

There silence for a moment, and then, "So what's your name?" Jim asked.

"Lucas."

"You got a last name?"

"Lucas."

Jim laughed a little, "Lucas Lucas?"

Flushing deep pink I turned away, "Uh, no. It's James Lucas."

"Hey, we've got the same first name."

I mumbled something that I hoped would pass for a casual reply, and Jim let us fall again into silence.

"So what do you know about this Silver guy?" he asked after a few more minutes.

"Silver?" I looked up at him, why was Jim interested in Silver? "Uh, not much. I've only been working with him for 3 weeks now. Seems nice enough…" I trailed off. Jim seemed disappointed by my lack of information, but I honestly couldn't tell what he thought there would be TO tell about Silver.

"Why do you ask?" the question was out of my mouth before I could stop it. _Will I ever learn to just hold my tongue?_ Not for the first time in my life, I cursed myself for opening my mouth without thinking. I was supposed to be distancing myself from Jim, not initiating conversations.

"No reason."

Jim was a horrible liar…

"I see…" I dared to take my eyes off of the floor and look at him. Something was obviously troubling Jim… His eyes were slanted and his jaw set. It was the same face that I remembered from when we were younger and he was having trouble with a new project.

_He'll figure it out…Jim always does…_ I groaned again and cursed, this time under my breath. I shouldn't be making presumptions about this boy, almost a man. People change in 6 years. Maybe he wasn't a genius. Maybe my little eight year old mind remembered things wrong. Maybe… I let out another swear word, this one a little louder.

"Are you ok?" Jim asked with a short laugh. I turned my eyes up reflexively and glared at him. It was the first time we had really made eye contact. His eyes opened wide…It took only a second to realise my mistake and turn away. But Jim had already reached out and grabbed my shoulder, turning me back to look at him.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" he asked.

Keeping my eyes firmly fixed on the ground, I tried to sound casual. "Nah, you couldn't possibly." My voice cracked at the end of the sentence. "Anyway, I'm going to swab the upper deck. Have fun." Grabbing my mop significantly harder than required. I sauntered off down the deck.


	8. Misconceptions

The upper deck was a lot smaller than the lower one, so I finished before Jim. Unable to bring myself to go down near him again, I started to wander aimlessly with the wet bucket and mop. But even pretending to mop couldn't last forever. I sighed and put it down. There was no point in going into the galley, dinner was already over (neither Jim nor I had been allowed to go eat), and there wasn't anyone on deck who might need my assistance doing anything.

With a sigh, I tipped the dirty water from my bucket over the side of the ship and then turned back towards Jim. But instead of moving forwards like I had intended, I just watched. He was talking to Morph.

"Well this has been a fun day, huh? Making new friends." The sarcasm almost dripped off of his voice. I chuckled.

"like that spider psycho…"

Obligingly, Morph changed into Scroops. "Spider psycho. Spider psycho."

Jim laughed "A little uglier."

With an evil laugh, Morph turned into a spastic little version of Scroops. I practically had to shove my fist into my mouth to stop from laughing too loudly.

"Pretty close." Jim said, chuckling. After a beat, he continued to muse. "But that Lucas…Why does he look so familiar?"

Morph instantly turned into a version of me. Thin and athletic, though almost too feminine for a boy even despite the male clothing. Short curly brown hair that was cropped messily to my ears. The large gray eyes peering up at him. I put a finger to my temple, headache coming on as Jim began to inspect the miniature me. Trying to figure out where he knew me from.

"Eaagh. Thank heavens for little miracles." I could have kissed Silver. Quickly acting like I had only just finished, I headed out towards the two of them as he dumped the leftover contents of the dinner pot overboard. "Up here for an hour with the deck still in one piece."

"Hey! I said coming over, "I resent that. It's not like I haven't swabbed a deck before!"

Silver laughed, "So then I suppose I can blame Jim's bad influence on your recent trouble making, can I?"

"Of course."

Silver let out a long laugh, but Jim remained silent.

"Look..I um…Ehh"

Silver and I both turned to him.

Jim continued "What you did… Thanks."

After a short pause, Silver replied.

"Didn't your pap ever teach you to pick your fights a little more carefully?" he asked

I turned away to avoid looking at them. _Speaking of Jim's father…_ Dislike of the man twinged with pain caused by the son… I almost didn't notice the fact that Jim hadn't replied, until Silver continued to speak.

"Your father not the teaching sort…?"

"No."

My head snapped around. Where had that bitterness come from? I thought that Jim loved his father…? Certainly he had admired him far more than the man had deserved.

Jim's face was bitter when he replied. "He was more the taking off and never coming back sort."

Trying to hide how dizzy I suddenly felt, I grabbed onto some riggings. My eyes remained fixated on Jim's back when he turned to look out into space.

"Oooh." Silver said. He moved over to stand next to him. "Sorry lad."

"Ay, no big deal." Jim said brazenly. _He was such a bad liar. _"I'm doing just fine… I just wish that I could have gone to help-" he cut himself off.

"Help who?" Silver inquired.

Jim just shook his head "It doesn't matter. She's forgotten about me by now anyway."

"Is that soo…?" Silver asked, apparently he had decided not to inquire further.

…_What?_ I had to grab a little tighter to the riggings to avoid slipping sideways.

"Well!" Silver said, suddenly sounding pleased with himself. "Since the Captain has put you in my charge, like it or not, I'll be pounding a few skills into that thick head of yours to keep you out of trouble."

"What!" Jim asked

"From now on, I'm not letting you out of me sight." Silver roared. He suddenly rounded on me where I stood, ashen faced and trembling. "Either of ya!" he bellowed.

"You can't!" Jim protested.

"You won't so much as eat, sleep or scratch your bum without my say so!" Silver said with a dramatic pound of his fist.

"Don't do me any favours!" Jim retorted angrily.

"Oh you can be sure of that, my lad." Silver said "You can be sure of that." Turning to grab me by the scruff of my shirt, Silver dragged the two of us off with him. "Now off to bed with the both of ya! You're getting up before the bell tomorrow and I won't be hearing any complaining!"

I just nodded, it didn't even register with me that Jim would be sharing the hammock directly opposite my own until he was already stripping off his boots and socks, and undoing his shirt. With a blush, I turned away. Leaving my shirt firmly where it was on my body, I removed my own boots and socks and climbed into my hammock..

"Night Lucas." Jim grumbled, evidently still pissed off at Silver.

I didn't reply, and after a moment, Jim rolled over and began snoring lightly.

Lying there, I doubted that I would be getting any sleep that night at all.

_His father left…He COULDN'T have come for me…He didn't forget…_


	9. Same old, Same old

I was up well before wake-up call the next morning. I hadn't slept much, but I was feeling surprisingly refreshed. It was a new day. I was resolute. Today, Jim wouldn't shake me. I would act totally normal. Now that I knew that Jim hadn't forgotten about his promise, hadn't abandoned me… I could just be Lucas.

_I'm sure I can_… Why it really made so much difference, I couldn't say… Nor could I say why it mattered so much that he didn't discover out who I really was…Aside from the obvious difficulties it would cause if Silver and the crew found out that I had been lying all this time about being a boy.

But it did make a difference, and it was important. As I emerged out onto the deck I stretched and took in a deep breath. The stars were as breathtaking as always. I smiled. Nothing was going to get to me today.

"Mornin lad." Silver greeted. Spotting him across the deck, I strode over cheerfully. "You're looking better this morning." He commented.

"I just wasn't feeling very well yesterday." I replied. "So what's on the menu for today?"

"We're gonna be cooking breakfast in a moment. And then working on some things. I think I'm gonna teach you and Jimbo how to de-barnacle the bottom of the ship."

I frowned "I won't be spending all day in the kitchen?"

Silver laughed, "With three of us now, lad. Meals won't be taking up quite so much time."

"So…I'm going to be doing _everything_ with you and Jim?" I asked

"Got a problem with that, lad?"

_YES!_ My mind was screaming, but I shook my head anyway "No, Sir!" _There ISN'T_ I told myself silently. "No problem at all."

Silver gazed at me thoughtfully, but whatever he was thinking he didn't let on. "Alright then lad, You'd best go wake up this Jimbo of ours. I'll start on them potatoes"

I stomped my way back into the sleeping quarters rather loudly, rising more than one complaint and a few swears from the sleeping crew members around inside. "Jim." I said firmly. He didn't move. I rolled my eyes and grabbed his shoulder. "JIM!" I yelled. Someone cursed nearby at my having woken them up, but I ignored them.

"Tess…" Jim mumbled.

As though my hand had just been burnt, I jumped back with a slight squeak, but after a moment it was obvious that he was still sleeping. _Oh, that's IT_. "JIM!" I bellowed at the top of my lungs, upturning his hammock and flinging him onto the floor. "GET UP!"

Jim immediately jumped up and began yelling at me. "What was that for! Te-Lucas!" he corrected himself. I felt another headache coming on, the same one from yesterday. _Too much worrying going on._ I decided.

"It's time to get up!" I shouted back, matching his volume.

"Well you didn't have to overturn my hammock!"  
"I already TRIED waking you up the nice way!"

"Not very hard!"

"Just get into the kitchen!" And with that I turned on my heel and stomped back out of the sleeping quarters, trying not to think about how good looking Jim was without a shirt on, or how panicked I was that he had almost said 'Tess', TWICE.

"He's coming, Sir." I said as I entered the kitchen.

"I figured. I could hear the two of ya having a shouting match from all the way in here." Silver said.

I flushed "he was proving rather difficult to wake up the nice way, Sir."

"Not that Lucas tried very hard." Jim grumbled as he entered the kitchen.

"How would you know?" I snapped, "you were _asleep_."

Jim mumbled something inaudible and turned away to grab a potato and a knife. And, in angry silence, the two of us set to work. Silver continued to chuckle as he stirred the oatmeal.


	10. Saving Tess

"Alright, we're done with the first meal of the day! Here!" without warning, Silver thrust two big bowls of oatmeal into our faces before walking out of the room. Knowing that I wouldn't have long to eat before we moved on to the next job, I quickly grabbed a spoon and dug in.

To my surprise though, Jim didn't seem to be particularly interested in the food. Instead he just sat there, spoon in one hand, ignoring the bowl grasped in his other.

Biting my lip, I tried to turn away and ignore him. I was ignoring him today after all… Despite myself, I felt my eyes moving sideways at him. A gluggy clump of oatmeal fell off the spoon that was frozen halfway between the bowl and my mouth, falling onto my lap. With a sort curse I brushed it off. Jim still hadn't started eating. Sighing, I put the bowl aside and slid my stool towards him. He didn't look up until my voice made him jump.

"Not gonna eat?"

"Ummm…Yeah…" he half heartedly shoved some oatmeal into his mouth and swallowed.

"Something wrong?" _Shut up! _I shouldn't be asking him about his feelings. I'm NOT becoming his friend. Damnit, I'd spent the last 6 years not caring about anyone else, why was it suddenly so _hard_ to not give a shit?

"Nah…Just…" Jim looked at me, I could tell that he was trying to look steady, like nothing could possibly bother him. "Just thinking…"

Every fibre of my being was screaming for me to ask what he was thinking about, but for once, I controlled my mouth. Nodding I jumped off the stool and headed above deck, the remaining half of my porridge completely forgotten.

"Barnacles!" Silver shouted, he seemed have a revolting level of enjoyment saying the word. At his feet stood a mouldy old bucket and 2 chisels. I groaned, and a moment later the sound was repeated by Jim as he emerged onto the deck.

It was only minutes later that we were being lowered down the side of the ship on a single plank of wood suspended by 2 ropes. Almost nothing between us, and falling out into the deep nothingness below.

I was so busy staring at the stars underneath us, that I almost didn't catch the chisel Silver threw my way. "Now," he said "even thick headed lad's like yourselves outta have no problem with this. Just use the chisels and peel em off the side of our beloved ship here."

We both sat there on the swinging plank and stared at him until Silver lost his patience. "Well, get to it!"

Jim sighed and turned towards the nearest barnacle, quickly levering it off, though the force made him slide back on the plank a little. I had slightly more trouble getting the right angle with my own barnacle, but a moment later, it too had been flung off and out into space.

We kept at it for hours, only Silver's occasional shout of "put some elbow into it!" punctuated the puffs and groans that were emitting from the both of us.

Unfortunately, the hard manual labour gave me plenty of time to think. And far too many of my thoughts were about Jim. _I wonder how he coped after his father left…?_

Abruptly, I was pulled from my thoughts, unsure as to why at first. But a quick glance at Jim told me that something was going to happen. He was prying off a particularly stuck-on barnacle. He had to use too much force. To make things worse, just as the barnacle was flung off, the ship hit something and everything was lurched sideways. Jim was flung off and away from the plank, he only barely managed to hang on by hooking his left leg around one of the ropes. But it was already too late for me.

As soon as Jim had started sliding, I had lunged forwards to grab him. But when he stopped, my reactions were somewhat slower and I kept going. Rolling off of the plank, I tried to grab onto something, anything but couldn't find a purchase. With a heart wrenching feeling, I began to plummet.

Only to be caught by something. I couldn't look up, whatever had caught me had me by the back of my shirt. It began pulling, and I felt myself dragged back onto the plank. I turned just as Jim was letting go of my shirt. Somehow, he had managed, not only to save himself. But in the same moment, had seen that I was going over and…_He had managed to grab me…_?

Silver had an expression of worry on his face that slowly turned into a thoughtful one. Blushing, I tried to turn away from them both. My heart was still racing a mile a minute, and my breathing was coming out in short gasps.

"Uh…" I tried to take a deep breath, "Thanks."

Jim seemed to be equally out of breath. "Don't mention it…"

There was a moment of silence, more than a little awkward on my part, as the two of us tried to catch our breath.

"Alright," Silver said finally, "Let's get back to the kitchen and make some lunch."


	11. A new, old, friendship

'It's surprising what a body could get used to.' How many times had I heard that before in my life? But… It turned out to be rather true. Ever since Jim had saved me (more than a week ago), I couldn't bring myself to be as distant towards him as I previously been (failing) trying to be.

Instead, we fell into a friendship that…Surprisingly… Resembled almost the exact same one that we had had when we were little kids.

Though there were times that I distinctly remember NOT having experienced before… Such as when he made my heart beat about a thousand times a minute, just by touching my hand or smiling. Or other times, when I felt like I wanted to tear him limb from limb.

Such as now.

"What on earth do you think you're doing!" My shouting earned a reproachful look from Captain Amelia, and made Dr. Dobbler jump from where he was standing next to her. But I couldn't be phased, marching right passed them across the deck - directly to where Jim was perched on some riggings and staring out into space, I continued shouting.

"Don't you _realise_ that dinner finished 2 hours ago? Silver said to come straight to the look-out tower after we had finished _washing the dishes_! And since you weren't _there_, _I_ had to wash _everything_! And then when you didn't even arrive at the _tower_, Silver sent _me_ searching all over the entire ship just to find you!"

Jim glanced back at me with a calm expression, evidently he didn't care that much about my inconvenience. The casual face just made me bristle even more.

"You lazy, good for nothing!" Instinctively, my hand snatched out, grabbed his ear and started pulling him back across the deck.

Jim's protests were almost loud enough to drown out Dr. Dobbler and Captain Amelia's laughter, but not quite. Not to mention that at this point, everything was just making me more pissed off.

I continued the rant right across the ship until we ended up at the base of the tower.

"…And _that_ is why, no girl will_ ever_ want to go out with you!" I finished. Not entirely sure how I had ended up with that conclusion, but it didn't particularly matter at this point.

"Uh…Sorry." Jim mumbled finally, when it was evident that I had stopped shouting.

My hand went up to run through my hair, I sighed. "It's ok. There wasn't actually that much to do tonight. But _don't_" I gave him a punch for good measure. "…Ever do that to me again."

It was only then that I realised Jim still seemed to be preoccupied with something.

"…Uh…Are you ok?" I asked. In less than 10 seconds Jim had turned me around from completely pissed off, to entirely concerned about his emotional wellbeing. The boy was going to drive me _insane_.

He just shrugged "Sorry again about the dishes. I guess I forgot." And started climbing the ladder to where Silver was waiting for us with a set of rope.

"Knot tying." He said, before we had even fully emerged.

Not really paying attention, Jim sad down to one side, while I sat at the other and looked at Silver intently. Silver picked up his rope.

"Ok, so it's over and under and…" I glanced around to see what had caused Silver to stop talking, only to see that Jim had completely vanished. The only thing I could see was a knot, a perfect replica of the one that Silver had just been demonstrating. When I leaned over the edge of the tower, I could see Jim already walking away.

If I hadn't already figured it out, I knew now, Jim was definitely amazing.

I glanced back at Silver, who was looking slightly sheepish. He finished his own knot, which I then replicated perfectly. I was smart, but, Jim… A smile crept up onto my lips as I watched him. He had gone all the way back to his riggings and was looking out to space again. At that point, I didn't notice that Silver was watching me with a knowing smile himself.


	12. Shock

Things didn't change much for the next couple of weeks. We worked with Silver, boy did we work. He seemed to be making it a mission to keep us busy every second of the day. Only occasionally in the evening did we get any free time, to go outside and watch the stars. Or listen to one of the many adventures that Silver was more than happy to recount round the cards table.

And while we worked, we talked.

I tried to avoid any subject of my own past. But as Jim wasn't the kind to pry when someone so obviously didn't want to talk (unless he had a reason to), and as I was more than happy to listen to him, things worked out pretty well.

At first he was quiet, Jim had been through a lot since I had seen him last.

But eventually, the story of his father, leaving them only a couple of years after I did. How he had grown distant from his mother, started failing school, getting in trouble with the law. It all came out. Jim tried to pass it off casually, but every now and then he would wince, or trail off. None of this had been easy for him.

It wasn't until we had been sailing for just over a month that I finally mustered up the courage to ask him something that had been on my mind for the past few weeks.

"Didn't you have any friends?"

Jim was silent for a moment. "Not in a while…" he said finally. When I looked at him curiously, Jim continued. "Well. I only ever had one best friend. But she moved away…And anyway," he chuckled, though there was no humour behind the noise. "We were so young, so I don't know that it can really count…She's probably forgotten all about me."

"So it was a girl?" I asked.

This time, Jim laughed for real. "Yeah. But it wasn't like _that_. We were just…Friends… Like brothers."

For some reason, my heart gave a painful little jump, but I pressed on. "What happened to her?"

Jim shook his head, "You know. People move away, they leave. It happens… It's funny…" but he cut himself off again. When, after a moment's silence, he obviously wasn't going to continue, I spoke again.

"What's funny?"

A dark cloud passed over Jim's face. "Nothing. It's stupid. Just…I had promised that I would go get her…" he cleared his throat. "But like I said, she's probably forgotten all about me by now."

I didn't reply. And before Jim had a chance to say anything else, Silver was calling out for us.

"We're going for a little ride!" he shouted across the deck.

Without a second's hesitation, Jim and I abandoned our scrub brushes and were running after him. Despite of, or maybe because of, all the hard work that Silver made us do. I was growing more than a little attached to him, and I could tell that Jim felt the same way. Silver was more than a boss to us.

Even if he kept us washing dishes so late sometimes that we ended up falling asleep over half cleaned empty pots.

One thing that I loved about Jim, was that at times like that, he really never slacked off. He was distant sometimes, but he worked harder than anyone else on this entire ship. _Wait…_ I pulled my thoughts to a halt. _One of the things that I LIKE about Jim, LIKE, not LOVE._ I shook my head to clear it as we came to a stop next to Silver. He beckoned us to follow him below deck, to where the longboats were held.

"Well, get started. You two know what to do." Silver said impatiently. In a heartbeat, Jim got to work undoing the ropes, before I even had a chance to move. A second later I followed his example, and the two of us lowered Silver in the boat down through the open docking entrance.

For a minute, I thought that Silver was going to take off without us after. And I could tell that Jim was thinking the same thing, but in a second he was back and telling us to get on.

We floated out into space the three of us. Silver began talking "You push this to turn it on…" But he didn't get any further. Jim was already locking, pushing, engaging buttons and leavers and we were off. Flying faster than I had ever gone before. Jim angled us so that we headed straight into a comet, somersaulting and dodging through the tail in a way that was completely exhilarating.

Had anyone else been the pilot, I would have been terrified for my life, but I trusted Jim…_Completely_… The revelation surprised me a little, but I pushed it aside. There would be plenty of time to think about that later.

Once we exited the comet, Jim moved over to give me a chance steering. He didn't give Silver the opportunity to run me through it, instead he jumped straight in explaining.

"And just turn these two to go faster, and…"

I nodded, it all made sense. Once he had finished explaining I smiled and took off. Not quite as steady as Jim had done, and not nearly so fancy. I settled for some simple manoeuvres that took us back to the ship. It was still a decent job, I felt. And I could tell from the way that Silver was looking at me, that my performance had still been rather impressive. Even if it wasn't Jim level.

I laughed as we began to dock the boat again, jumping up to help secure the ropes as Silver began singing Jim's praises.

"Wo, ho ho." Silver laughed as the boat came up.

He loosed a rope, making the boat drop a couple feet before I grabbed onto it.

"You having a little trouble there?" Jim asked Silver, laughing.

"Oh, you two get away from me." Silver laughed, tugging the rope out of my grasp again so he could haul the boat up himself. "Oh, Jimbo." He continued, as we started tying knots to fasten the boat in. "If I could run over a skip like that when I was your age, they'd be bowing in the streets when I walked by today."

"Bowing in the streets, bowing in the streets." Morphs high pitched voice agreed.

"Well, I dunno" Jim finished tying off his rope "They weren't exactly singing my praises when I left home." He said, flopping back against the side of the boat, I came to lean next to him.

We were all puffing hard, and Silver was wiping away sweat with an old rag. I leaned back to get a better look at Jim's face. I knew what he was talking about, but there was something different in his tone when he said it this time.

"But I'm going to change all that." Jim continued.

"Are you now?" Silver asked, playing with Morph. "How so?"

"Uh…" Jim lifted an eyebrow and scooted back, "I've got some plans. Gonna make people see me a little different" He closed his eyes, and for one of the first times since we had started this voyage, Jim looked…Content…

"Oh…"

My head snapped to look at Silver. Suddenly, he wasn't so happy. My eyes narrowed as I surveyed him.

"Sometimes…" Silver said, sounding regretful, "plans go astray…"

Jim hadn't noticed the change. "Not this time." He replied, his eyes closed, smiling.

"Mmmm…" Silver paused for another moment. There was something…Something about…The way he looked… My stomach suddenly froze up. There was something wrong. A series of connections were taking place in my mind. Things that I hadn't put together…

Silver hoisted his mechanical leg up, and with Morph's help, started tightening some of it's bolts. It was apparently causing him some pain. But I was too distracted to notice properly… Jim, however, looked up.

Jim grabbed his arm awkwardly "So uh… How's that happen, anyway?"

"You give up a few things…" Silver didn't look at Jim, instead just inspecting his mechanical hand. "Chasing a dream..."

"Was it worth it?"

"Heh." Silver said, and with a grunt he came over until we were all sitting on the same side of the boat together. He put his arm around Jim. "I'm hoping it was, Jimbo. I most surely am."

Satisfaction had replaced the regret and sadness of before. My eyes shot to him. I glanced at his mechanical hand, his words. Things I had heard and noticed, after being with him and his crew for over two months… Treasure…Dr. Dobbler had said… And what had Silver said just before we bordered this ship?

'_"What do you mean you're gonna be the cook?" I gaped at Silver. Had he gone insane?_

_"You heard me, Lucas." Silver growled. "And I don't want another word outta ya about it.__Especially__in front of our new__captain__."_

_No!_

I bolted up, already standing with one foot out of the boat, my face had contorted into a horrified expression. But Silver and Jim didn't get a chance to ask me what was going on, because there was suddenly a massive vibration and a violent jolt that sent me flying straight back into the boat, crashing into Jim and Silver.


	13. The Black Hole

As one, we scrambled out of the longboat and up to the ship's deck.

"What the devil…" Silver paused as he reached the top of the stairs and stared up at the sky. Jim and I saw it a second later. An exploding star!

I head Dr. Dobbler's cry. "-It's gone SUPER NOVA!"

The Captain dashed past us and across the deck at lightning speed "Evasive action Mr. Turnbuckle!" she shouted.

"Ay! Ay! Captain!"

"All hands fasten your life lines!" came Arrows shouted command. The crew, Jim, Silver and I included, began running towards the lifelines, grabbing them up in a hurry to get secured. Molten gas and lava began shooting out from the exploding star, ripping holes through the ship and nearly hitting more than one crew member.

At another command, everyone ran to secure the ships sails, before they could be burnt to ashes by the balls of fire. Jim, without a seconds hesitation was out and onto a mast, suspended over the exploding, fiery space below, attempting to secure one of the largest sails with Silver. I moved out to help them and the three of us got to work.

One of the crew, perched on the ship's main cannon, managed to shoot at some of the approaching balls of liquid fire, saving the ship. But pieces were flung everywhere, I narrowly dodged being hit. But Silver wasn't so lucky. He was flung off of the beam that we were standing on.

"Silver!" Jim lurched and grabbed Silver's life line and I ran forwards to help, pulling hard to get Silver back up. With us.

"Thanks lads." He said, patting Jim on the shoulder once he had finally made it back. He shot me a smile over Jim's shoulder, but I couldn't find the heart to return it. I knew who he_ was_ now. I knew that he was really a liar.

Suddenly, we looked up. A piece of molten rock, much larger than our entire ship, was moving towards us and was now just moments away. The heat coming off of it was blistering and searing. I held a hand up in front of my eyes, trying to protect my face.

Our cannons shot at it, but they didn't seem to do any good. _This is it…_ I glanced at Jim, he was staring open mouthed at it, astonished. Slowly, Jim brought his arm up to shield his face as well, as the molten ball came even closer.

And suddenly, it was floating further away. I almost didn't realise, until the heat became suddenly more bearable. I lowered my arm, _what's happening?_

Nothing was coming _at_ us anymore…Instead…

_It's all floating to one single spot._ Recognition flashed through me, and after a sideways glance, I could tell that Jim had figured it out too.

Dr. Dibbler shouted out, warning the captain that it was becoming a black hole, and confirmed my fears. _What on earth are we supposed to do now?_ Jim and I stared at each other, there was nothing _to_ do, we were…Going to be sucked straight into it…

But the star hadn't quite finished exploding yet. Another shockwave rocked the ship and sent all three of us crashing to the deck.

Dr. Dobbler shouted something that I couldn't make out. But Captain Amelia's reply was clear. "Of course! Brilliant Doctor! We'll ride that last magella out of here!"

"WHAT!" I shouted, staggering to my feet. Only to be flung back to the ground by another wave. "That's insane!" I looked at Jim and Silver with wide eyes, momentarily forgetting the cyborg's betrayal. He seemed to be reflecting the same expression that I had on my own face. Incredulous terror. But Jim's eyes glinted, despite his fear, he seemed to understand the plan.

When Arrow ordered for the sails (THAT WE HAD JUST SECURED) to be released, the crew grumbled. But we all got to work.

"Mr. Hawkins!" The Captain's voice pulled Jim away from the riggings that he was climbing on. "Make sure that all lifelines are secured good and tight!"

"Ay! Ay! Captain!" Jim jumped down and ran back to the lifelines, while I continued climbing upwards to the sails.

"Life lines secured Captain!" came his shout, only a few moments later.

"Very good!"

I decided to run over to where Arrow and Scroop were working and give them a hand, just as the ship was struck by yet another wave. I grabbed onto the mast and barely managed to hang on. But Arrow wasn't so lucky, he was flung out into space. I caught my breath, but his lifeline held. Sighing in relief, I was about to move forwards again and help him back onto the ship, when Scroop caught my eye.

He went up to where Arrow's life line was hanging over the edge of the beam. One claw came up.

"No!" but my scream was drowned out by another eruption from the star. Scroop's claw snapped at the rope, splitting it cleanly in two. Horrified, I watched as Arrow fell, directly into the black hole.

Scroop turned, and I tried to dodge out of the way behind the mast. But I was too slow. With a hiss, Scroop realised that I had been watching, and came after me. Too scared to think, I bolted back down the beam and jumped off to the deck below. He jumped after me, but Dr. Dobbler's next shout forced us both to pause.

"Captain! The last wave! Here it comes!"

I took that moment to bolt again. Straight up another set of riggings, running blindly on the next beam and colliding headlong into Jim. Instinctively, I clutched onto him.

"Lucas!" he shouted, barely steadying the two of us. But there wasn't a chance to talk.

"Hold onto your life lines, gents! It's gonna be a bumpy ride!" Captain Amelia shouted.

Jim shoved be backwards into the main mast, grabbing handholds to either side of me when it became apparent that I wasn't going to let go of him. A second later Silver had come up and took his own hold over the both of us.

The ship plunged.

And then, will all the explosive force of a super nova, we were launched back out and away from the black hole. The heat behind us quickly dissipating into the cool of space.


	14. Safe

The ship was safe!

Everyone began to cheer. Silver was the first of us three to let go of the mast. Jim made to follow, except that I was still clutched to his chest.

"Umm…" he coughed awkwardly.

Feeling suddenly as though Jim was a hot coal, I jumped back, too hard, and slammed my head into the mast behind me.

"Woooah…Steady there." Jim inched forwards and looked at me intently. "What's wrong?"

I opened my mouth, "Jim…It's…"

But Scroop caught my eye. He hissed, one single claw raised. The blood drained from my burnt, sweat-caked, singed face. Exhaustion suddenly overcame me. I collapsed to the floor at the base of the mast, and dropped my head into my hands.

"Lucas…What…?" but Jim was interrupted by the arrival of Captain Amelia.

"Well I must…Uh… Congratulate you Mr. Silver. It seems your Cabin boys did a bang up job with those lifelines, and the sails."

Silver and Jim both smirked and began jostling each other good naturedly. But when they both glanced back at me, I couldn't meet their gaze. _If I say anything…Scroop will kill me…_ I could feel his cold eyes watching my back. _Jim would speak up. Jim would tell everyone…_ I dropped my head back into my hands, tears silently streaming down my hot face, I could feel my shoulders shaking.

"Here lad, come away. You're worn out." One of the crew grabbed my elbow and started leading me away. I was halfway across the deck before I had the sense to pull away. But by then, Scroop had already strode up to Captain Amelia.

"I'm afraid…" I could hear his hissing voice from across the deck. "Mr. Arrow…Hass been lost…."

"No!" I cried out, fighting the arms that were taking me away. I broke free and ran back to Jim, but Scroop had already continued talking.  
"His life line was not secured."

"No!" I shouted, causing everyone to look at me. Scroop glared, clicking his claws. I hesitated.

"No! I checked them all!" Jim protested, running back to the lifelines.

I knew what he would find. Trying desperately to tear my eyes away from Scroop, I opened my mouth again. "No! Captain! It wasn't Jim! It's not-" but Scroop moved until he was directly in front of me. My throat constricted, lower lip beginning to shake.

Scroop moved and put one claw onto my shoulder, the other he angled so that it was hidden, stabbing into the small of my back just enough to draw a drop of blood. "The Cabin boy is distraught." He hissed. Pressing his claw deeper into my back, I stumbled forwards and was led past and away from the Captain.

_Just shout it. Just shout it!_ But my mouth had gone completely try. Nothing would come out. My whole body trembled as Scroop kept moving me further away.

The Captain was talking again, but I could no longer hear her words. Once we had gotten a fair distance across the deck, Scroop halted. He knew that to disappear completely at this point in time, would be to invite suspicion.

"Mr. Arrow was a…" I tuned back into Amelia's voice, she paused and cleared her throat. "Fine spacer… Finer than most of us… Could ever hope to be… But he knew the risks, as do we all. Resume your posts. We carry on."

Scroop took this as his que to take me below deck, but someone had suddenly grabbed my arm. I turned to see Silver, glaring at Scroop. With a final hissed warning into my ear, Scroop released me and left. I tore away from Silver, and took off to the most remote set of riggings that I could find.


	15. Darkness

I couldn't say how long I was out there on those riggings. The sweat that had been caked onto my skin and through my hair, the bruises, the cuts, the burns. They weren't enough to make me move. I almost relished in the pain. It was no more than a coward like me deserved.

It was already dark before I spotted Jim across the deck. But I couldn't go to him. How could I tell him that I had kept my mouth shut? That I had betrayed him _this_ much?

I had long ago already become too dehydrated for real tears. But my whole body began to shake, as the dry sobs rattled through me again, I tried to turn away so that I couldn't see Jim.

Something made me glance upwards at the mast above me, and there I saw, almost invisible… Watching me… Scroop.

_I wonder why he hasn't come down to kill me?_ I glanced back at Jim and saw that Silver had arrived to comfort him_…. Silver… that would be why I'm still alive_. Funny, that one liar was now protecting another. I tried to curl up into a ball and disappear. I could no longer tell if I was shaking from crying, or from fear.

"Look! Don't you get it!" Jim's shout made me lift my head slightly. "I screwed up! I mean, for two seconds, I thought that maybe I could do something _right_! But…"

I couldn't let Jim keep thinking this. His pain was unbearable to watch. To listen to. I couldn't. I forced myself up. Part of me still cared that this would be my death sentence, but I couldn't do this to _Jim. _Not to _my_ Jim. I had to tell him.

Staggering over towards them was painful. My lungs hurt, my legs hurt, my back hurt. I was dizzy, and I could almost feel Scroop moving on the beam above me. But I kept walking.

"Auch! I just…" Jim had moved away from Silver and was leaning against the main mast. I stopped just a few metres away, still un-noticed by either of them.

"Just…Forget it. Forget it."

_How could someone go through that much pain, and still be so strong? _ I could picture myself, as he would see me in a short moment. Dirty, injured, distraught…_Unstable_… I probably looked more like a ghost than a human. But Jim… _He's amazing…_

Silver moved over to Jim before I could take another step. "Now." Silver said firmly, "you listen to me, James Hawkins. You've got the makings of greatness in ya." He poked Jim in the chest for emphasis. "But you've gotta take the helm and charge your own course. Stick to it. No matter the squalls. And when the time comes you'll get the chance to really test the cut of your sails and show what your made of. Well…" Silver sighed. "I hope I'm there, catching some of the light coming off ya that day."

There was a silence, and Jim began to cry. Not the body wracking sobs that I was still suppressing... The result of fear. But the quiet sound of someone who was despairing. Who had just been told that there was a light at the end of the tunnel, but who still couldn't quite see it.

I fell to the ground, and the two of them suddenly turned.

"Lucas!" Jim ran forwards.

"Jim…It wasn't…It's not…" The world grew blurry and I started to cough. I barely noticed Jim rolling me onto my side before I blacked out.


	16. Pain

I mustn't have been unconscious for too many hours. Because it was still dark in the crew cabin when I woke up. A bottle of water was lying next to me and I drank awkwardly it for a moment before sitting up in my hammock. I curled into a ball. Jim was in his own hammock across from me, sleeping, a worried frown on his face. From the way he was only half in his hammock, feet still on the floor. I could tell that he had fallen asleep sitting up. Silver, was nowhere to be seen.

I sat there, watching Jim. I don't know for how long. Hours. Until Jim was woken up by the smelly crew member in the hammock above him, and fell coughing onto the floor.

"Jim."

Jim looked up at me in surprise. "Lucas, you're ok!" A relived smile spread across his face. I shook my head, "Jim, I have to tell you something. _Now_."

Jim paused, searching my eyes for something, before he nodded sleepily and grabbed for his boots. He had just pulled one on when the other began hopping away.

Jim sighed and glared at the escaping boot.

"Morph?"

We both stumbled up and after the floating shoe.

"Moph, knock it off. It's too early for this." Jim grumbled. I remained silent, making a half hearted snatch for the little alien as It floated around and behind Jim. Dodging my grasp, the boot promptly kicked Jim in the butt, making him turn around and shout at it.

Laughing in his high pitched voice and seizing up the real boot, Moph flew out of the room, the two of us chasing after him.

"Hey! Come back here!"

We ran out onto the deck, where Jim made a lunge for the shoe and finally grabbed it, glaring at Morph who continued the joke by spurting water into his face.

"Jim-" I started, but Jim didn't hear me.

"That's it, you little squid!"

"You little squid" Morph squeaked, squeezing through some holes before coming up and engaging Jim in a game of whack-the-mole…Involving Morph and his boot.

I bit my lip agitatedly. This wasn't the time to be playing games. "Jim-" I started again, but he still didn't hear me.

Following Morph down some stairs, we eventually found ourselves inside a storage room that was adjacent to the crews main mess hall. _I have to tell him now!_ "

"Jim!" I grabbed his arm and pulled him to one side. "It was Scroop who killed Arrow. Not you" I could barely bring myself to say it though my shaking lips, and even now it came out as little more than a whisper. But I could tell that he had heard.

There was a pause where Jim just stared at me. Uncomprehending what I had just said.

"He…What?"

But familiar footsteps sounded in the room behind us, I knew who was coming. Grabbing Jim by the collar, I forced him into a bale of perps, jumping into the cramped space after him. It took a second to realise that Morph was in there as well, before they began talking.

At first I couldn't make out what they were whispering, until Silver's voice replied.

"We don't move till we've got the treasure in hand!"

Jim looked at me, his eyes were wide. I regretted that in a moment, his disbelief was going to turn into betrayal and pain.

"I say we kill em all now." Scroop hissed. "That Lucas, I should have killed him months ago…"

Silver reached up and grabbed him, "I say what's decided." He replied angrily. "Disobey my orders again like that stunt you pulled with Mr. Arrow,"

Jim shot me another desperate look, but I couldn't meet his gaze.

"- and so help me. You'll be joining him!"

Our barrel rocked from the impact of Scroop being flung into us, but luckily, our position wasn't given away.

"Strong talk," Scroop hissed, "But I know otherwise." His claw reached into our hiding place, directly between Jim and I.

I could fill my entire body shaking, I froze up, staring at the claw in horror. But Jim managed to move. A moment later he grimaced and offered Scroop's claw a perp. Scroop withdrew his arm.

"You got something to say…Scroop?" Silver asked, his voice was cold.

"It's those boys." Scroop said, facing back to Silver. "Me thinks you have a soft…Spot for them…"

There was a pause before Silver replied. "Now mark me, the lot of ya! I care about one thing, and one thing only! Flint's…Trove!"

"Then why…" Scroop asked. "Didn't we kill Lucas the moment he tried to get on our ship?"

Silver paused. "That girl is more useful to us alive, than she is dead."

The crew began an uproar. "Girl!" "Girl!"

Jim jumped as far away from me in the barrel as he could and turned to stare at me. I could see it from his eyes, two of the biggest lies and betrayals that he had ever encountered in his life had just been revealed in under a minute. I shook my head, there was nothing I could do to help it now. My hands were clenched, blood beginning to run again from my recently healed wounds.

"That, Lucas…" he corrected himself "Tess… Dawnstay's family's got money! Lots of it! Even if we don't find Flint's trove, her ransom would be more than enough for each one of us to retire! And you still think I'd risk all of this for the sake of some nose whipping little whelps?"

"What was it now?" Scroop mocked. "Oh, you got the makings of _greatness_ in ya."

Silver turned to him "Shut your yap! I Cozied up to that kid to keep him off our scent… But I ain't gone soft…"

Suddenly, they were cut off by the look-out's cry. "Land ahoy!"

Excitedly, the crew ran out of the room and up onto the deck, leaving Jim and I alone in the barrel, even Morph took off excitedly with the others.

Jim didn't look at me, he was breathing hard. His face barely holding the pain that he was feeling.

"Jim…I…"

Jim glared at me. "You didn't tell me! You know all of it didn't you! And you didn't tell me!" He sprang out of the barrel with me close on his heels.

"Jim, I swear. I wanted to…I…I didn't even know about Silver until…"

"Just shut up, Lucas….Tess…Augh!" Jim turned away and started heading up the stairs, me following.

To my horror, we ran directly into Silver.


	17. Making a Run for It

"Jimbo…Tes-...Er…Lucas…" Silver glanced away from us for a moment and scanned the room. Comprehension dawned on his face… He started down the stairs towards us, forcing Jim and I backwards.

"Playing games…Are we?"

"Yeah…" Jim used his left hand to move me behind him...It seemed…_ Protective…_ It must have been automatic… I bit my lip… He _must_ hate me too much to have done that on _purpose_.

"Yeah, we're playing games." Jim's right hand moved to the table behind us and out of my sight. He seemed to be searching for something.

"I see…" Silver said slowly "…Well I was…Never much good at games…" Silver's hand was behind his back, hiding whatever weapon it was that he was about to use to kill us. "…Always hated to lose…"

Jim grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze, the other one still on the table behind us. I swallowed, realizing that we were about to make a run for it. I squeezed back, hopefully letting him know that I understood.

"Hmmm…" Jim said. His grip on my hand tightened, I got ready. "Me too!" And he pulled, launching away from the table with him. The scissors went into Silver's mechanical leg as we darted around him and up the stairs, heading to Captain Amelia's stateroom. Silver's cries of pain dimming behind us.

Jim almost threw me into the room, jumping in after me and slamming the door shut. He took just a moment to lock it before turning to Captain Amelia and Dr. Dobbler, who were looking at him with half annoyed and half confused expressions.

"What is the meaning of this Mr. Hawkins?"

"Pirates Ma'm. The whole crew cept me and…" He trailed off for a moment, glancing at me.

I shook my head, "I'm not one of them Jim, I swear!"

He didn't acknowledge this, instead turning back to Amelia. "Silver's the leader, they're after the map. And they're about to make a move for it. We have to go!"

A whistle sounded outside. Luckily Captain Amelia caught onto things fast. She was already at the weapons locker, readying a laser gun.

"Pirates on my ship! I'll see they all hang! Dr… Familiar with these?" she tossed him the weapon, which Dr. Dobber caught gingerly, stammering.

Jim turned to me while the Captain talked to Dr. Dobbler. "Lu—Tess…How do I know that you're not one of them?"

"Jim…Please…It's me." I pleaded. "You've known me since we were three years old! I would never…"

"People change." Jim muttered. He glanced at the door, which was turning red from the pirates lasers breaking in.

"Mr. Hawkins."

He turned to Captain Amelia. "Defend this with your life." She tossed the map at him, but Morph caught it mid air.

"Morph! Gimme that!" Jim snatched it out of the alien's grasp and tucked it safely into his pocket.

There was a blast, and we all turned in surprise to where Captain Amelia stood in the middle of the room, a large hole at her feet. "We're going down through here. IMMEDIATELY!"


	18. The Jump

I was almost surprised at how fast we were running. The corridors had always seemed to narrow, with too many twists and stairs and sharp metallic edges to be good candidates for a running track. But the sounds of the large angry group of pirates bent on killing us, was a fairly good motivation for speed. They sounded dangerously close behind us, and I could swear that they were gaining.

We lurched into the longboat's docking room, pulling Dr. Dobbler in after us. And managed to somehow close the door before the pirates actually got through. Captain Amelia sealed the door with her laser.

"To the longboats quickly!"

We didn't need telling twice. In less than a second, we were getting ready to leave. _We might actually survive this…_

"Morph! No!"

I spun around, just as Jim jumped out of the longboat and went after the little pink alien.

"Shit!" I scrambled to the edge and leaped. Making it out of the boat a second after Jim. The pirates broke through the door.

"Get back in the boat!" Jim shouted, but he didn't look at me. He was occupied with fighting Morph for the map.

I pushed Jim sideways just as a laser shot past us. "Just get the map!"

I heard Amelia shout something, but I didn't have time to figure out whether it was to us or the pirates. I had just spotted Silver pulling up the leaver to close the exit hatch. I ran towards him. "Don't!"

He hit me aside, sending me sprawling across the metal walkway. "Ooh, you shouldn't have got in the way, lad." He said, raising his laser gun until it was levelled at me.

I closed my eyes.

"Morph! Here! _Morph!_"

My eyes opened. Silver spun around to look at Jim. Staggering up off of the ground, I grabbed the leaver, reversing it so that the latch started to open again. Turning around, I caught sight of Silver and Jim on walkway opposite, Morph in between them.

They started calling to the pink alien.

"You should have run."

My head shot around, and I staggered backwards. Scroops had made his way into the room.

Backing away, I tried to catch sight of Jim out the corner of my eye. But I couldn't bring myself to turn and see if he had the map yet. My eyes focused back on the spider alien. "G- Go away, Scroops." I stammered.

_Where was the longboat_? I tried to picture it in my mind, to catch sight of the boat without having to turn away from Scroops. But my mind had gone into complete panic.

I kept walking backwards, hoping that it was the right direction. My foot took another step, landing on thin air. I plummeted, barely catching myself on the hard railing, my feet dangling in the air. Scroop smirked, coming closer. It would only take him a second to force me to let go and send me falling out into space.

I craned my neck around just enough to catch sight of the ledge behind me, it wasn't too far. I bit my lip and started to swing. My foot hooked around a pole and I let go, using the force of my swing to pull myself up on the other side.

Scroop would be able to jump the short distance in a moment, but at least…

My eyes widened, I was on the same ledge as Jim and Silver. I caught sight of Morph, just as he jumped into a coil of ropes. Jim and I leapt forwards at the same time. Both reaching into the ropes and pulling out a map. There wasn't time to think about which was the real one, we turned and sprinted for the longboat.

In complete synch, we jumped. But something grabbed me, jolting me out of the fall. I barely had time to register Scroops claw gripping into my left arm.

"Jim!" I let go of the map, watching it drop into the longboat just as Jim caught the side. The longboat plummeted out of the ship and away.

"You're dead." Scroop hissed. Blood began to run down my left arm.

_I know_.


End file.
